The present invention relates in general to communication between computers and, in particular, to communications between a user""s client computer and an internet service provider.
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the resources available on the internet relating to business, leisure, and education. The increase in resources has been followed by an associated increase in access to the internetxe2x80x94particularly by people in their homes through internet service providers (xe2x80x9cISP""sxe2x80x9d). As internet usage has become commonplace, more ISP companies have established systems of Points of Presence (xe2x80x9cPOPsxe2x80x9d) through which users who subscribe to the ISP""s services can access the Internet. These POPs commonly provide telephone numbers that their subscriber""s computer can call using a telephone modem by placing an inexpensive, local telephone call. After connecting with a POP, the subscriber can then typically access the internet, or other network services, through the service provider.
In many areas, multiple ISP companies will have one or more POPs located within a given region. Several companies own and/or maintain nationwide POP networks, while others operate POP networks in specific regions or metropolitan areas. Consequently, usersxe2x80x94particularly users in urban or suburban areasxe2x80x94may choose from a variety of POPs within their local telephone calling range.
An internet service provider will often contract to lease a certain amount of POP usage in order to provide service for its customers/subscribers over the geographic region serviced by the ISP. For example, an internet service provider in Chicago may own and operate its own POPs throughout the Chicago area. However, if the service provider desires to expand its business to customers in downstate Illinois, that provider may choose to lease POP service from one or more commercial POP providers who have established POPs in downstate Illinois, rather than undergoing the substantial expense of constructing and maintaining its own POP facilities in that distant area. The user can then access that service provider""s resources over the internet without the need to dial a telephone number in Chicago and incur extra telephone charges.
Typically, a user will be provided with the telephone numbers for one or more local POPs at the time the user""s account is established. Once the account is established, the user will connect to one of the preassigned POPs each time they connect to the internet. New POP telephone numbers are typically provided to the subscriber only when specifically requested by the user. In that case the user must reconfigure its software to update it with the new replacement telephone number for the new POP.
Unfortunately, this prior art method of access does not allow a service provider to maintain maximum system flexibility with minimum customer inconvenience. For example, if a service provider negotiates a particularly advantageous contract with a particular POP network in a given region, the service provider will typically not realize the full value of the better rate because existing users will continue to dial into previously-assigned, more expensive POPS. Because the user typically pays a flat rate for ISP service, the unrealized savings are lost profit to the ISP. Moreover, to move the subscribers to the new POP, the ISP must contact each subscriber to have them enter a new telephone number. The ISP will typically incur additional customer service expenses and possible loss of customer goodwill, and even then all users may not switch.
As a second example, one particular POP may become utilized by a disproportionately large number of local users, causing users to experience frequent busy signals or otherwise unreliable service. Meanwhile, another local POP may simultaneously have excess capacity, which goes unused because few users have selected that POP access number.
As a third example, oftentimes an ISP""s network and service grows gradually over time. As the number of subscribers increases, the economically feasible hardware infrastructure that can be supported by the subscription base also increases. Therefore, oftentimes when a subscriber signs on to a service, there may not be a POP particularly close to the user. This problem is particularly relevant to rural regions, in which sparse population densities can support but a few POPs until the subscriber population reaches a higher level. As the user base grows, a new POP closer to the user may be established. Because the user has previously configured the POP access numbers, the user continues to pay unnecessarily high telephone connection costs. In order to take advantage of the new local POP, the ISP must contact the user, and the user is burdened with altering their computer configuration.
Finally, mobile computing devices are being increasingly utilized. Under the conventional ISP system, each time a user changes location, the user must either pay high telephone rates to access their xe2x80x9cregularxe2x80x9d POP, or the user must be inconvenienced with the hassle of contacting the ISP to obtain a local POP access number for the new location and manually choosing a POP access number appropriate for the new location.
In any of the foregoing examples, the quasi-static nature of network access numbers results in an inefficient allocation of service provider resources, inconvenience to the user, and/or unnecessarily high costs to the user and ISP.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for dynamically modifying a user""s computer configuration, such that a service provider may automatically reassign network access numbers, or modify other communications settings, without effort or even knowledge on the part of the user.
It is another object of this invention to allow an ISP to minimize the cost of POP leases when providing service to a broad geographic region.
It is a further object of this invention to minimize the telephone access charges to the user of an internet service provider.
It is yet another object of this invention to prevent an ISP POP from becoming over-utilized, such that users are not faced with busy signals and inferior system performance.
It is another object of this invention to reduce the expense and inconvenience of ISP usage for travelling users of mobile computing devices.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light the present specification and drawings.
The invention consists of a method for automatically updating network configuration settings on a modem equipped client computer. The client establishes a connection with a service provider. The service provider determines an optimal network configuration for the client, and transmits the optimal configuration to the client. The client then accepts and stores the new configuration settings.
One aspect of the invention involves the automatic determination and setting of preferred service provider telephone access numbers and client configurations when the client connects to the service provider. Preferred access numbers can be determined on the bases of geographic location, POP usage charge, and residual connection capacity.
Specifically, the method for automatically updating network configuration settings includes the steps of: having the client computer dial a telephone number assigned to an internet service provider toward establishing a communication link between the client computer and the internet service provider computer via the client computer modem; having the internet service provider determine the optimal configuration settings; transmitting the optimal configuration settings from the internet service provider to the client computer; and storing the new configuration settings in the client computer.
The desired configuration settings include one or more preferred telephone numbers through which the client computer may establish communication with the internet service provider. The step of determining the desired configuration settings may include the substeps of: Identifying the telephone number from which the client computer has dialed a call to the internet service provider telephone number; and selecting one or more additional or replacement telephone numbers which may be dialed by the client computer to establish subsequent communication with the internet service provider.
In one embodiment of the invention the step of selecting one or more additional or replacement internet service provider telephone numbers may include the substep of identifying telephone numbers which are geographically closest to the location from which the user has initiated its call to the internet service provider as well as the substep of ranking the telephone numbers by the price charged for network access by each internet service provider or the amount of available service capacity.